By Location Archives - Page 34 of 42

Glen-Gene Deli Hixson-June 2, 2012

June 5, 2012

Glen-Gene Deli holds a special place in my heart. It’s been around forever, or at least as long as I can remember. Until several years back, it was located inside of Northgate Mall (and, if I am not mistaken, there was also a location in Eastgate Mall). Since there have never been a ton of places to eat at Northgate (which, despite Hamilton Place’s ability to boast about being the largest mall in Tennessee, is far and away my Chattanooga mall of choice-I avoid crowds and traffic like the plague), I ate at the Northgate location more times than I can count. I ate there with my mom and my grandmother as well as with my friends on many a mall excursion. It’s funny to remember those days…it was back before the days of the smoking ban in Tennessee, and inevitably the place reeked of smoke. We usually sat out in the seating area in the mall. The mall has changed, and Glen-Gene is no longer there, having moved to the Oak Park Town Center (by the Hixson Wal-Mart) in a freestanding location. The food, however, has not changed.

Philip and I went there together on Saturday for the first time ever. I am not kidding. Now, I’ve been there a million and one times in the thirteen years we’ve been together, but he never wanted to go. For some reason he didn’t care for the food and he referred to it as “girl food”. He used to say the same thing about Chick-fil-a, but he is a Chick-fil-a convert now. While we were eating at Glen-Gene, we were talking about the whole “girl food” opinion. He formed this opinion because “it always seemed like only girls wanted to go there”. My explanation for this was that it was, after all, in a mall-as was the only location of Chick-fil-a when we were growing up. Besides, he and his friends pretty much lived at Taco Bell, so of course they didn’t want to go to Glen-Gene (or Chick-fil-a, for that matter).

I remember that when I was a kid/teenager, I used to order different things. Usually a cheeseburger, I think, but I seem to recall some chicken fingers in there too. When I was around 17 or 18, I tried their teriyaki chicken sandwich….and I don’t think I’ve ordered anything else since. It kind of makes me laugh….this sandwich is on the “10 grams of fat or less” menu, but on this gigantic bun I am sure that it’s got a pretty hefty amount of calories. You know I don’t get too worked up over that sort of thing….I’ll make up for it later. It’s basically a butterflied chicken, boneless/skinless chicken breast half basted with teriyaki sauce and served on a sesame seed bun. It’s consistent and tasty, not dripping with sauce, and always tender and well cooked. You can dress your own sandwich at their bar (when I was a kid, this wasn’t an option, and I seem to recall that they chopped their onions up into little pieces so they were impossible to separate from the lettuce. Ugh.). Philip decided on the bacon cheeseburger. It too is gigantic, served on a sesame seed bun. It’s a fairly thin patty. After at least 13 1/2 years since eating here (because I know he hasn’t touched it since our first date in 1999), he was won over. I doubt it will become his favorite restaurant, but he’s willing to eat there now.

We shared an order of fries. The fries are pretty average. They’re skin-on, but I have no idea if they’re made there or if they are frozen. One thing that bugs me about them is that they are unsalted, or at least they taste unsalted. I always have to salt them at the table (because really, who wants to eat unsalted fries) and you know salt doesn’t stick as well to fries when they aren’t fresh from the fryer. They also have a little shaker of seasoned salt by the toppings bar that you can add to your fries.

Glen-Gene has a variety of deli sandwiches, burgers, chicken sandwiches, and veggies sandwiches. They also have a large selection of “pita sacks”, including steak, gyro, chicken…you get the picture. They have a handful of “dinners” like chicken fingers or fried shrimp and fries. They have a surprisingly varied menu of sides, including fries, chips, tots, fried mushrooms, and mozzarella sticks. They also have several dessert offerings. You can check out their entire menu at http://glengene.com/. I checked them on Urbanspoon, and they have a “77% like it” rating. Like I said, I order the same thing every time. I encourage you to give it a try and decide for yourself. Glen-Gene isn’t haute cuisine, but it’s a quick bite to eat when you’ve been out shopping and you want a break from the usual. They feature a reusable coupon every year in the Hamilton County Schools Kids First coupon book.

Glen-Gene Deli is located at 5748 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343 (they also have a location at 7025 Shallowford Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421). You can call the Hixson location at 423-877-9997. You can visit their website, http://glengene.com.

Public House-May 12, 2012

May 14, 2012

As the end of the school year draws near and I am becoming more and more absorbed in trying to get through the last month and a half of classes, meal planning has become somewhat of an issue for me. Tack on the fact that I was off Friday which meant I went into “vacation mode” and that Philip sang the national anthem at the roller derby bout for the Chattanooga Roller Girls Saturday and that’s a recipe for going out to eat. We considered Public House a few weeks ago but ended up at Hair of the Dog instead, so Public House it was.

As we were walking up, we had to rush to get in front of a large and very loud crowd of guys that I placed at college age. I heard one of them ask (I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was joking), “Where are the TVs?” The hostess looked a little frightened when we walked up….I think she thought we were with them. No, thank you…table for two. We decided to sit outside…it was a beautiful night, temperatures in the seventies. In a week or two I am sure we will not see the seventies for at least three months (except in the middle of the night-maybe). Our server, Shannon, immediately came out and poured us water from this cool bottle, which he left on our table. And, look at the mini salt and pepper shakers!

There was no question about whether we were going to order a starter or what said starter was going to be. I am sure that Philip would have liked to have tried the deviled eggs with candied bacon (heck, I’m sure I would have liked them too) but I had been dying to try the pimento cheese ever since I first saw a PH menu, at least two years ago. Two different foodie friends have told me it was a must-try, and if you’ve read more than two posts on my blog you know that I am pretty much pimento-cheese obsessed. Public House serves their pimento cheese with fried pickles and grilled sourdough. I was in the restroom when it came out, but Shannon shared the “rules” with Philip: you are supposed to spread the pimento cheese on the bread then top it with fried pickles. Now, I am also pretty obsessed with fried pickles, so this is pretty much the perfect appetizer for me. The bread was charred around the edges and cut not-too-thick and not-too-thin. The pimento cheese was creamy and spreadable, with small flecks (not large chunks) of pimento and a (tiny) hint of spice on the back end. The pickles were perfectly battered and hot but not mouth-searingly so, with a hint of spice to them as well. The sourness and heat of the pickles combined with the salty coolness of the cheese and the crunchy char on the bread equalled a starter that I would say is unmatched in my book.

Deciding on an entree was decidedly more difficult, for me anyway. I had heard wonderful things about the fried chicken, but it comes with hot sauce, and I just can’t handle it…and I feel like when a chef puts an item on their menu, it should be experienced the way they created it (unless it contains raw onions. Then take those mothers OFF!). A burger sounded tempting, but really? I didn’t want to say that my first time at this amazing restaurant I got a burger. I considered the iceberg wedge and petite filet combo in earnest…but my eyes kept coming back to the PH fried chicken salad: fried chicken, mixed greens, tomato, Benton’s bacon (!), Reggiano cheese (a nice change from the usual suspect, cheddar), and croutons with your choice of dressing (I chose green goddess, a creamy avocado based dressing with a nice herby hit). I rarely order a salad as an entree, but I really wanted to try the fried chicken, but I really wanted some good veggies, and this seemed like a good way to have both. I also ordered a side of potatoes Lyonnaise. The salad came with two gigantic pieces of fried, boneless chicken (the fried chicken entree is traditional bone-in, I believe) with crispy greens. I loved the Reggiano cheese in place of cheddar….the texture and deep, salty, nutty flavor adds a layer of sophistication to a salad that you might not expect that from. Add to that the chunks of wonderful bacon….and it was a delicious salad. I loved the cool, creamy dressing, and I had enough left over for lunch on Monday (which Shannon kindly boxed up for me). Potatoes Lyonnaise are a French dish, thinly sliced potatoes and onions, sauteed in butter. These had a little bit of bacon on them too, and they were skin-on and fried to a deep brown, yet not really crunchy. Delicious!

By the way, you’ll have to forgive me for the quality of these photos. Without the flash, you couldn’t see anything…but with, hello overexposure!

Like I said, the entree decision took some time for me. For Philip, not so much. You see, if shrimp & grits is on the menu, he’s probably going to get them, unless they aren’t in a cream-based sauce. Fried chicken was going to be his back up if the sauce wasn’t cream-based, but lucky for him, it was, so that’s what he got. Plus a Caesar salad. Plus a side of arugula and balsamic vinegar. I forgot to take a photo of his salad until he had eaten so much of it that the effort would have been for naught…but you’ve seen a Caesar salad before, right? There’s was good, with a good garlicky dressing, and it had red and white onions (the white ones appeared to be grilled) in it.

Philip is very particular about his shrimp and grits, and he had a bad experience at an otherwise delicious upscale local restaurant that served him shrimp and grits in a tomato-based sauce. Public House serves their shrimp and grits, um, “loose”, not in a grit cake. The grits had cream mixed in and they were topped with a sauce made from shrimp stock. There was atonof shrimp of the grits, which is pretty rare. There were also some pieces of red pepper on top. The grits were cooked perfectly, the shrimp tasted great, and I really like the shrimp-stock based sauce. Philip enjoyed PH’s shrimp and grits but did say that it wasn’t his favorite that he’s had….just because he prefers the fried grit cake. The arugula was very fresh and crisp, but he did say that he would have liked a little more balsamic vinegar on top of it.

We were pretty much stuffed when we finished our meals, but when we eyed the dessert menu we figured we’d find room at some point. I really wanted to try the apple fritters with bourbon semifreddo, but semifreddo is a frozen dessert similar to ice cream, so no go since we were taking it home. We usually order crème brûlée when it is available, but again, that’s not really something that translates well to a 25-minute trip home. However, when I saw molten chocolate cake with mint creme anglaise (a light pouring custard), my mouth started watering. The molten cakes are heated right before serving, so Shannon boxed it up for us and wrote heating instructions on the box. Philip is not quite as big of a mint fan as I am, but the mint in this creme anglaise was very finely chopped fresh mint, giving the creme a very fresh taste that wasn’t too strong or overpowering. It meshed perfectly with the oozy chocolate of the cake. I will be making these at home!

I’ve wanted to try Public House since it opened and I am not sure what took me so long. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was beautiful. The service was friendly and fantastic. The prices were a little upscale, but not outrageous, and the lunch prices are no more than your average casual dining restaurant. I will definitely be going back to Public House Chattanooga, and I recommend that you try it as well.

Public House Chattanooga is located at 1110 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (in Warehouse Row). You can reach them at 423-266-3366. You can also make reservations online. You can read more about them as well as check out their menu on their website, http://publichousechattanooga.com. You can also “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Fresh on Fridays, 5/11/12-Taco Sherpa, Famous Nater’s, Pure Sodaworks, and Monkey Town Donuts

May 12, 2012

Did you know that Chattanooga has a street food scene? If you said no, you’re not alone. If you said yes, you are probably either (a) like me and unnaturally absorbed in the Chattanooga food scene; or (b) someone who works downtown. Food trucks in Chattanooga don’t do a lot of venturing out of downtown Chattanooga at this time, and why would they? Their bread is definitely getting buttered by the downtown crowd, as they sell out of product regularly and are definitely thriving. Right now, the food trucks in Chattanooga are Southern Burger Co. (aka the best burger in Chattanooga), Taco Sherpa (Korean tacos & rice bowls), Famous Nater’s (sandwiches), and A Taste of Argentina (duh, Argentinian food). Supplement that with Monkey Town Donut Company’s donut cart and Pure Sodaworks’ handmade soda cart, and you’ve got a true street food scene.

I’ve been wanting to try all of the above for some time now, but since I both live and work in Hixson and we are not big on crowds (i.e. we don’t care too much for the Chattanooga Market), this amazingness has eluded me to this point. I had a personal day that needed ot be used up before the end of the school year, so I took yesterday off from work and went to Fresh on Fridays, a gathering of all the food trucks and carts plus several other vendors at Miller Plaza. Once summer break hits, I am sure that I will attend many more of these plus some Food Truck Tuesdays at Warehouse Row. Both of these events begin at 11 and end at 2.

We arrived a few minutes early and the only vendor that was open was Monkey Town Donut Co., so we waited a few minutes. I had already decided to eat at Taco Sherpa. They opened promptly at 11 and I walked up and introduced myself as Chattavore (I’m a big dork like that). Whit, the chef, and I had conversed a little bit on Twitter, and he shook my hand….and he knew my first name. And that I’m a teacher. I was quite impressed. That, my friends, is connecting with your consumers. Whit’s wife, Lindsey, gave me a bite of dak galbi (spicy chicken) to taste so I could make sure that it wasn’t too spicy, since I’m a pansy. It wasn’t. I ordered one dak galbi taco and one galbi (pork marinated in sweet & spicy soy-based sauce) taco plus chips and salsa as a side. They also offer Korean banchan (pickled/fermented vegetables) but as I mentioned, I’m a pansy and I was afraid of the kimchi. I’ll wait for Philip to order it at some point, because if my food’s too spicy, I can’t eat it. And nothing is more depressing to me than ordering food and not being able to eat it.

My tacos came out quickly. They are served on double corn tortillas with cucumber, radish, cabbage, cilantro, sesame seeds, and sherpa sauce. The chicken is cut into large chunks and coated with the sherpa sauce, which is just a little spicy…you taste the chiles more than the heat. I liked it….but I liked the pork more. The pork was shredded/pulled pork and you could just taste the slow-roastedness of it. The sauce was perfect and all of the veggies really completed the flavor. I love corn tortillas and the tacos were great on them. The chips and salsa were….chips and salsa. I want to try the banchan…and I will, eventually. Taco Sherpa is a fantastic addition to Chattanooga’s street food scene. Try it. TRY IT! They just opened last month, and they’re sure to be around for a long time. You can learn more about Taco Sherpa at their website, http://tacosherpa.com, their Facebook page, or on Twitter (@tacosherpa).

****Sadly, the Sherpa closed in early 2013 when White and Lindsay decided to move back to South Korea. I wish them well but they’ll be missed!

While Philip liked the idea of Korean tacos, he was sucked in by the promise of the Famous Nater’s BBQ pork sandwich: 12-hour roasted pork with truckmade barbecue sauce, bacon, and cabbage slaw on a Niedlov’s bun. Yep. Pork on pork. Since Philip loves pulled pork and bacon about equally, he was pretty much fixated and couldn’t take his mind off that pork sandwich. Nater’s was a little late opening, so he had to wait a few minutes longer than I did. He got the BBQ sandwich and a bag of Route 44 salt & vinegar chips (we got our drinks from Pure Sodaworks-more on that in a minute). As you can see, there were a few lightly pickled vegetables also included with the sandwich, along with the huge stack of pulled pork in sweet sauce and a thick layer of red cabbage slaw. The roasted pork was perfectly tender and the sauce was just right, although Philip commented that he couldn’t really taste the bacon very much….I guess it was overpowered by the barbecue sauce. Oh well. The sandwich was still great and the Niedlov’s bun pulled it all together…quite literally. Famous Nater’s has been around since early 2011 and landed very close to the top in a national food truck competition…in their first year! You can find out more about Famous Nater’s on their website, http://famousnaters.com, their Facebook page, or on Twitter (@famousnaters). You can also call them at 423-596-5457.

Like I said above, we got our drinks at Pure Sodaworks. I had no idea such a thing existed until last month when another local blog, Local Milk, started talking about it on the blog and on Twitter. Handmade soda? In Chattanooga? Yes please. Philip and I are soda lovers but soda is a treat for us, and we are always on the lookout for a great soda that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup, and we’ve recently even tried our hand at making our own (good times!). Well, we have found the perfect one(s). Pure Sodaworks has a stationary location in Coolidge Park that just opened, and in addition to selling their drinks by the cup, they will start a bottling operation soon. They offer seasonal flavors-hooray-sweetened with natural cane sugar-hooray again! On this day, the offerings were root beer, ginger ale, hibiscus lemon, strawberry jalapeno, and lavender mint. I jumped at the lavender mint, and Philip decided on strawberry jalapeno. Both were heaven in a cup, a few squirts of syrup over pellet ice (rejoice!) and topped off with carbonated water. Mine was so fresh and herby tasting, not overwhelmingly minty or lavendery but a perfect balance of both. Philip’s was sweet and perfectly strawberry tasting with the peppery flavor of jalapeno and just a hint of spice…even my pansy tastebuds could handle it. He kept saying it was blowing his mind (in a good way) to taste sweet and jalapeno together. Perfection. Shawn, the soda jerk who was working the stand (I found out his name because I cyberstalked him on their website) carried our drinks to the table for me because I had my hands full of tacos and then he spent several minutes talking to us about their business before we left. I am so excited about Pure Sodaworks I can hardly take it! Get out of your Coca-Cola rut and give them a try! Pure Sodaworks is located at 181 River Street, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-299-3219. To learn more about them, check out their website, http://puresodaworks.com, their Facebook page, or Twitter (@puresodaworks).

Finally, as we left, we stopped by the Monkey Town Donut Company trailer. Monkey Town Donut Company is based in Dayton, Tennessee (get it? Monkey Town? As in the Scopes Monkey Trial?). Their donuts are tiny, one to two-bite donuts (one for Philip, two for me) coated with cinnamon and sugar. Oh, and they only have thirty calories each. Yep, 30 calories. Which means that a serving (six!) has less than 200 calories. Is that the perfect food or what? They were amazing hot, but we had a few left over (I think that he actually gave us a few more than a dozen-which only costs $4.00, by the way) which we ate cold with coffee after we got home, and they were pretty darn good too. I’m completely enamored and told Philip last night that I wished we had some more. I’ll definitely be getting them again! You can call Monkey Town Donuts at 423-902-6685 or check them out on Facebook.

Street food seems to be the new “thing” in the U.S. and I am glad that the trend has made it to Chattanooga. I hope that the trend will eventually bring our fantastic food trucks into Hixson from time to time, but lucky for me, I’m going to have a lot more free time over the next couple of months to support local street food. I’ve even kicked around the idea of starting my own food truck or cart one of these days-who knows? In the meantime, I’m happy to eat food from these amazing chefs, cooks, and creators who make this food fresh for us Chattanoogans. I encourage you to do the same!

Serendipity Cafe-May 7, 2012 (CLOSED)

May 8, 2012

***Note: Serendipity Café closed in September 2012 due to the owner’s decision to retire.***

Philip was working out of town this past Friday and Saturday, and Sunday he was tired and in no mood for crowds or anything too energy-consuming, so we didn’t get around to a restaurant review. Instead, we decided to head out to dinner tonight. We started out going to the Rice Boxx in the Lupton Drive area, but got there and realized that they are not open on Monday! So…we headed over toward Red Bank to Serendipity Cafe. Actually, I have thought about Serendipity Cafe on several occasions, but since we generally do our review visits on the weekend-and they are closed on the weekend-it hasn’t worked out to this point. Perfect timing!

Serendipity Cafe is located in the former Captain D’s building on Dayton Boulevard (near Red Bank Middle School). Honestly, this area seems to be an area of town where local businesses go to die…it seems that every restaurant that goes opens in the former Shoney’s building next door quickly closes. Serendipity Cafe has been open in this location for several years (after existing as Serendipity Delights in a smaller space for some time before), so clearly they are doing something right!

Serendipity Cafe has a drive-thru for call-ahead orders. For ordering in, you walk up to the counter to order. There is a case showing available desserts and some of the menu offerings as well as dry erase boards to the right telling the daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner specials and soups of the day. There are daily soup specials and daily dinner specials. The dinner special was spaghetti and the soup was broccoli-cheese. I quickly noticed that the Wednesday soup special is spicy taco…I’ll have to go on a Wednesday! There was a little case by the register with a couple of different types of jumbo cupcakes-red velvet was one, but I don’t remember the other. There was also something called “almond pillow cookies”. Serendipity Cafe has several types of salads (chicken, tuna, broccoli salad, Waldorf, etc.) which are available as sides or as a “scoop plate” that allows you to sample several different types of salads.

Since I am a pimento cheese fanatic, I had to give theirs a try. I decided on a half pimento cheese sandwich on regular wheat bread (their options were white, honey wheat, whole wheat, sourdough, and rye. Normally I would choose sourdough, but pimento cheese goes best with soft breads.), a small broccoli cheese soup, and a corn muffin (crackers were the other option besides cornbread). The soup was very thick and not super-cheesy….it was really more like a cream of broccoli to me-not that that’s a bad thing. It was very tasty, seasoned just right with small bits of broccoli throughout. The sandwich was not overly stuffed with pimento cheese so that the lettuce and tomato would slide all over the place, and you could see the individual shreds of cheese, so it was clearly made in-house. It had a distinctly sweet flavor and tiny green flecks in it, which I am pretty sure was relish. Overall, I liked it. I was afraid that the corn muffin would be sweet, because when I think of corn muffin, I think of Jiffy. It was not, however, and I was relieved. I was raised on non-sweet cornbread and that’s how I like it. This cornbread was yummy and very similar to what my mom makes-score! They also scored big points with me by serving real butter, not “buttery spread” with the corn muffin (and having it on the table…along with half and half instead of nondairy creamer). You know how I feel about buttery spread! There were also chips….Ruffles. Not much to say about Ruffles!

Philip decided on the quiche Lorraine, which the lady described to him as quiche with bacon, cheese, and onions, along with a side of Waldorf salad. The quiche was also served with (undressed) mixed greens and a pack of Club crackers. He commented that there wasn’t a lot of bacon in the quiche (I load mine up, believe that!) but that it tasted very good. The cheese on top looked like cheddar. I took a bite and loved that there was a lot of cheese. The quiche was “done” perfectly…not soggy or watery, as is so easy to do to quiche, and seasoned just right. The crust was flaky and perfectly browned. The Waldorf salad was interesting, unlike any version I’ve ever had or heard of. It had apples, celery, raisins instead of grapes, mini-marshmallows, and some sort of whipped creamy concoction (Cool Whip, I assume). This made it more “dessert-y” than traditional Waldorf salad, which has apples, celery, grapes, and mayo, but it was very good.

While we were ordering, I was eyeing the gigantic red velvet cupcakes next to the register, but Philip was ogling the bread pudding with Irish creme sauce in the case. Since I had a Federal Bake Shop cupcake at work that day (hooray!) I let him choose the dessert without any input from me (I do like bread pudding, though). Here’s a little factoid I’ll never forget….on our first date, we went to Rembrandt’s coffee shop and he ordered a latte with Irish creme flavoring. Mmmm, Irish creme. As I’ve said before, I don’t really drink alcohol (I don’t like the taste) but I do love using liqeurs for flavoring, such as a tablespoon or two of Bailey’s in my hot chocolate. They really nailed the flavor of Bailey’s; I’m assuming it was an Irish creme flavored extract but perhaps it was actual Irish creme..who knows? The bready part was very moist and Philip compared it to a sweet dumpling. It was indeed very sweet, and we each ate one of the three scoops and we were done (but would definitely order it again!).

On the table, they have a list of their daily specials. We’ll definitely have to visit on a Tuesday or Wednesday (which is also spicy taco soup day, remember?). There is also a list of desserts, which are not all available every day.

If you are in the Red Bank area during the week and looking for a tasty and homecooked meal, check out Serendipity Cafe. The food was delicious, the service very friendly, and they make no bones about the fact that quality is more important than speed. Serendipity Cafe is located at 3510 Dayton Boulevard, Chattanooga (Red Bank), TN 37415. You can call them at 423-875-3477. You can check out their website, http://www.serendipitydelights.com. You can also “like” them on Facebook.

Hair of the Dog-April 28, 2012

April 29, 2012

So, I’ve completed the trifecta. Hair of the Dog is owned by the same people who own The Honest Pint and Terminal BrewHouse, two of my very favorite dining spots in Chattanooga. Since Hair of the Dog is a bar….errr, pub (i.e. a smoky environment) we have been waiting for warm weather so that we could dine al fresco (there’s no non-smoking section as there is in The Honest Pint). Yesterday was a beautiful day and it was perfect for sitting on the deck. We’ve been to Hair of the Dog before, a couple of different times, but we’ve only eaten appetizers and both of those visits were long before the Chattavore days.

Since we love the other two spots so much, we were pretty excited about Hair of the Dog, especially since I read on the Main Street Farmers Market website the other day that the bartender was experimenting with locally grown/produced food in the menu specials, and I was actually in line behind her on Wednesday when she was picking up produce at the Fall Creek Farms stall. On the Hair of the Dog website there were several weekly specials listed featuring local food, but we didn’t see this until after our visit (otherwise we would have asked about them) and there was no mention of them from our server or on the chalkboard outside listing the beer specials. Of course, by Saturday afternoon they could have been fresh out of these items….we’ll have to ask next time!

On one of our past visits, we had soft pretzels with beer and cheese soup for dipping; on another, Philip ate some Reuben rolls (just as they sound….eggroll wrappers stuffed with corned beef, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing). This time, we decided to order chips, drowned in beer cheese soup. You can also get them plain, wet (covered in white gravy), or overloaded (wet, drowned, and topped with bacon). We were thinking actual chips, but they turned out to be fries. I guess we should have been thinking in more of an “across the pond” mode, since this is a pub, after all, but we weren’t. If we had known they were fries we would have gotten them wet! Anyway…the beer and cheese soup is interesting, with chunks of carrots and celery in a mild and not super-liquidy cheese soup. Appetizers don’t usually come with chunks of veggies, so these are healthy, right? Anyway, the fries are hand cut and not super-crispy. So drippy and messy….but that’s okay! I really liked them but was secretly wishing for bacon.

I toyed with the idea of getting a burger, but that wasn’t really what I wanted. I looked over the menu about fifteen times and finally decided to try out the fish & chips, an item I rarely order….but it seemed appropriate. The funny part of this is that when I ordered it I knew that the “chips” coming with the fish were fries, but still hadn’t made the connection that the “chips” coming in my appetizer were not potato chips. So anyway…I ended up with double fries! Good thing I adore fries, right? They were really good plain with some malt vinegar sprinkled on top, and also dipped in ketchup. I could eat fries every day, do you understand???? The fish was great too…three pieces of cod in a very crispy but not greasy batter. I love fish & chips because (a) it’s fried; (b) it’s crunchy; and (c) it tastes great with malt vinegar. My college roommate and I used to go to Captain D’s (I’m so ashamed!) on a regular basis to eat pieces of fish completely soaked in malt vinegar (we called it “eating a little food with our fat”). This fish was definitely not Captain D’s….I would definitely order it again! The tartar sauce was pretty much amazing…clearly housemade. It wasn’t goopy and it had big chunks of pickle in it. The fries also tasted great with the tartar sauce. Win!

Philip decided on the Winner, Winner, Chicken-Fried Chicken Dinner, a gigantic butterflied boneless chicken breast, breaded and fried and served with white gravy on top. He ordered hash brown casserole and broccoli with almonds as his sides. The chicken breast, as I mentioned before (and as you can see below) was extremely large and very crispy but extremely juicy and well-seasoned. The gravy was good but according to Philip not as good as mine (he’s a little spoiled, you see…besides, mine’s made with bacon grease-hard to beat!). The hash brown casserole was also good, crispy, cheesy, and creamy, all important hash brown casserole characteristics. The broccoli was fresh and well cooked, but he did feel like it needed a little salt. Overall definitely a blogworthy meal….

Hair of the Dog is nice, casual environment with a tasty pub menu. Remember that it’s a 21 and over establishment, and if you don’t like smoke, go on a warm day so you can sit outside. Support your local farmers and ask about their local specials! Hair of the Dog Pub is located at 334 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-265-4615. Check out their website, http://www.hairofthedogpub.net, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. Oh, and tell them Chattavore sent you!

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